1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to refrigerators and, more particularly, to a cooling air distributing structure for refrigerators.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the circulation of the cooling air of a conventional refrigerator is described hereinafter.
As shown in FIG. 1, the storage space of the refrigerator is divided into a freezer compartment 2 and a refrigerator compartment 4. The cooling air is supplied to the freezer compartment 2 and the refrigerator compartment 4 by a fan 8, the cooling air being generated by a heat exchange between air and an evaporator 7, the fan being installed in a heat exchange chamber mounted to the rear of the freezer compartment 2.
In FIG. 2, the cooling air is supplied to the freezer compartment 2 through the opening 11a of a shroud 11 and the air supply slot 12a of a grille panel 12. On the other hand, the cooling air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 4 through the space between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12. The grille panel 12 is provided with air return slots 12b at its lower portion, air circulated in the freezer compartment 2 being returned to the evaporator 7 through the air return slots 12b.
When the fan 8 is operated while the cooling air is generated, the cooling air is partially supplied to the freezer compartment 2 through the opening 11a of the shroud 11 and the air supply slot 12a of the grille panel 12. After the cooling air supplied to the freezer compartment 2 is circulated through the compartment 2, the cooling air is made to pass through the cooling air return slots 12b formed at the lower portion of the grille panel 12 and is returned to the heat exchange chamber 6 provided with the evaporator 7.
In addition, the cooling air, guided by a rib 13 between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12, is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 4 through a refrigerator compartment duct 4a provided at the rear of the compartment 4. Subsequently, the supplied cooling air is circulated through the refrigerator compartment 4. The refrigerator compartment duct 4a is provided with a damper (not shown) at its upper portion, the damper being used to control the supply of the cooling air to the refrigerator compartment 4. When the damper is closed, the cooling air between the shroud 11, the grille panel 12 and the damper is stagnated. The cooling air circulated through the refrigerator compartment 4 is returned to the heat exchange chamber 6 through a refrigerator compartment return duct (not shown), the refrigerator compartment return duct being formed through a barrier 5.
The conventional cooling air distributing structure for refrigerators has the following defects.
According to the conventional structure, a stagnated cooling air region is generated in the middle of the cooling air passageway connected to the refrigerator compartment 4. That is, when the damper, installed in the cooling air passageway connected to the refrigerator compartment 4, shuts the cooling air passageway, the stagnated cooling air region is generated thereabout. This stagnation of the cooling air causes the following problems. Since the cooling air is partially stagnated in the passageway connected to the refrigerator compartment 4, a supply rate of the cooling air to the refrigerator compartment 4 is not capable of being exactly controlled. The generated cooling air must be distributed to the freezing compartment 2 and the refrigerator compartment 4 at a fixed distributing ratio, but the conventional structure is problematic in that the exact distributing ratio is not capable of being determined due to the existence of the stagnated cooling air region.
Additionally, since the stagnated cooling air region is generated in the lower portion of the cooling air passageway connected to the refrigerator compartment 4, the flow of the cooling air becomes deteriorated. As described above, when the cooling air is supplied to the refrigerator compartment 4 through the region between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12, the damper is mounted to the lower end portions of the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12 so as to control the cooling air supply to the refrigerator compartment 4. As a result, when the damper is closed in order to shut the cooling air passageway connected to the refrigerator compartment 4, the cooling air is stagnated in the region of the space between the shroud 11, the grille panel 12 and the damper, thereby causing a noise due to the flow resistance generated by the stagnated cooling air region.
In order to introduce the cooling air to the refrigerator compartment 4, a certain space is prepared between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12. Since the space between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12 occupies the space of the refrigerator compartment 4, the space between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12 reduces the storage space of the refrigerator compartment 4. Actually, since the space between the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12 occupies excessive space, the efficiency in utilizing space is lowered. Further, the total structure is complex due to the structures of the shroud 11 and the grille panel 12.
Since the air returned through the first air return slot 11b of a shroud 11 and the second return slot 12b of a grille panel 12 to the heat exchange chamber 6 is resisted by the shroud 11, the grille panel 12 and the stagnated cooling air region, the smooth circulation of the cooling air is hindered. That is, the path for supplying the cooling air to the refrigerator compartment is problematic in that it is complex.
According to the conventional construction illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the efficiency of utilizing space is low and a flow resistance happens in the path of the cooling air.